Peter McAneny, president of Kennywood Entertainment, the local company that operates the historic amusement park in West Miffin, is leaving at the end of the year, the company said Monday.
His resignation yesterday occurred six months after Kennywood and its four sister parks were sold to Parques Reunidos, a global amusement parks company based in Madrid. It is in the process of streamlining the management structure of its North American properties, including Kennywood.
"After they bought us, they saw opportunities to consolidate management," said McAneny of his decision. "That's really what part of this is."
McAneny, 56, has been Kennywood's president since 2003, having joined the century-old company 14 years ago. He has no specific career plans yet, he said, following a period assisting the Spanish company with the transition.
"I'm certainly going to stay around here," said McAneny of the Pittsburgh area. "I'll look for another position, that's for sure."
Parques Reunidos did not name a successor yesterday. The Spanish company might simply have each of its five park managers report directly to its North American operation, Palace Entertainment in Newport Beach, Calif., said a Kennywood spokesman, Jeff Filicko.
"At this point, we're trying to work through that," said Filicko of the question of a successor to McAneny.
Family-held Kennywood and its affiliates, including Sandcastle Waterpark, were sold to Parques Reunidos in June for undisclosed terms. It operates 65 amusement, animal and water parks including the Madrid Zoo. It had annual revenue of more than $570 million and its venues had more than 22 million visitors in 2006, according to most-recent figures.
Parques Reunidos is not planning any changes to Kennywood that would be apparent to visitors, said McAneny. Kennywood Entertainment employs about 5,000 companywide at peak times, and about 160 the rest of the year.
"It's been a wonderful place to work," said McAneny. "I have lots of good friends and colleagues here. That's the hard part."
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